Friday, July 22, 2011

Let's Realign the Conferences, Part Two: Alphabetical Order

People love complaining about the conference structure in college football. Sure, there are some strange combinations, and long roadtrips, but it could be worse. And I'm here to show you how worse(or awesome) it could be.

This is a pretty simple strategy; just line them up by name. No thought put into it at all...well, other than trying to decide what name to use (ie Mississippi vs Ole Miss). Let's just say the travel cost could get a little out of control.

1. This is an interesting collection. A few SEC and PAC-12 schools highlight the group, but watch-out for Air Force. The Academy could be the wildcard in this conference. Travel could be worse, though West Point to Arizona possibly twice-a-year would be fun.

Air Force

AkronAlabamaArizonaArizona StateArkansasArkansas State

ArmyAuburn

Ball State

Baylor

2. It's a battle of East vs West in this conference. Nothng like a trip for California to Boston in December to spice things up. The closest trip for Clemson? Cincinnati. Ouch.

Boise State

Boston College

Bowling Green

BYU

Buffalo

California

Central Michigan

Cincinnati

Clemson

Colorado

Colorado State

Connecticut

3. Well, someone was going to be stuck with Hawaii. I'm not sure the Warriors would be able to afford this conference. Numerous trips to the East Coast could prove quite costly. Florida, FSU, Georgia, and Tech actually make this conference quite competitive.

Duke

East Carolina

Eastern Michigan

Florida

Florida Atlantic

Florida International

Florida State

Fresno State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Hawaii

Houston

4. What a boring conference. It's like taking the most lame teams from their respective conferences and throwing them together. This is a basketball conference.

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kent State

Kentucky

Louisiana-Lafayette

Louisiana-Monroe

Louisiana Tech

5. Now, this is a conference. Traditional programs, mixed with emerging schools. Many of these colleges have BCS experience, and lots of promise for the future. Obviously I'm talking about Memphis and Miami (OH).

Louisville

LSU

Marshall

Maryland

Memphis

Miami

MIami (OH)

MIchigan

MIchigan State

Middle Tennessee

Minnesota

Mississippi State

6. This actually looks like a traditional Notre Dame schedule. Lots of "who cares" teams, a few solid programs, and Navy. Now, only if Purdue had snuck in.

Missouri

Navy

NC State

Nebraska

Nevada

New Mexico

New Mexico State

North Carolina

North Texas

Northern Illinois

Northwestern

Notre Dame

7. Another pretty tough group. Could be one of the deepest with 10 out of the 12 from BCS conferences. Good luck to Rice and Ohio...they will need it.

Ohio

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rice

Rutgers

8. Talk about some travel. California to Florida to New York to everywhere in between. Actually, it's quite a nice group of traditional programs. Nice to see Texas and Stanford in together, considering the two schools are top-5 in overall NCAA championships in all sports.

San Diego State

San Jose State

SMU

South Carolina

South Florida

Southern Miss

Stanford

Syracuse

TCU

Temple

Tennessee

Texas

9. Let the bragging rights begin between California and Texas. This is a also a very dirty conference, with the likes of USC, UCF, Toledo, and Texas TEch in the mix. Who am I kidding? They all cheat.

Texas A&M

Texas Tech

Toledo

TroyTulaneTulsaUABUCF

UCLA

USCUtahUtah State

10. Well, WVU and Virginia Tech would be rivals again. Other than that, not much to talk about. Lots of travel, and lots of subpar programs.